Corrections Community

Just wandering if anyone in other areas are experiencing shortage of Correctional Officers or a seemingly large turnover of Officers? What do you attribute it to? Salary? Working Conditions? Would like some input and perhaps ways to curtail this. Thank you!

I can only speak for the federal system. About 60% of all federal employees are expected to retire in the next 10 years. Retirement, by far, is the greatest contributor to prison employee turnover at my facility. Of course, we are in a moderate cost-of-living area with pay scales that are higher than the local/state governments' pay. It also depends on what specialty the employee is. For example, those in  the medical profession make less in my facility than the local private sector pays, and so they have a higher turnover rate.

My last institution was in a high cost-of-living area, and federal correctional staff made lower wages than the state. So turnover was very high because of pay.

I figure that it depends on where the facility lies, its cost-of-living, the pay level of local/state employees, the pay level for those in similar specialty areas locally, and the size of the local workforce pool. 

Yes, we have experienced the same. I work in a county jail and over the last two weeks we have lost 26% of our staff. After long conversations with each of those leaving they have furnished me with the following reasons for their resignations:

1) Low Pay. [This is a difficult, but not impossible, reason to accept because we have had major pay increases over the last two years and have become extremely competitive with other jobs (both law enforcement and civillian sector) in the current low-cost of living area. We cannot compete with some public sector occupations including Cessna Aircraft, Cobalt Boats, etc...though the work is not comparable.]

2) Training. [Our department has been allotted $500.00 training budget this year. I'll be lucky to find a way to get one person into training and even then it will have to involve some major accounting considerations.]

3) Management [Our Jail Administrator was dismissed in March of this year and was replaced by an ex-ritiree field deputy with no experience in corrections. Those leaving are of the opinion that his decisions generate a higher risk and stress environment which is more business than brotherhood oriented.]

4) Promortions. [They are currently viewed as a sign of achievement rather than qualification. This may be confusing but some people take longer to be fully qualified for a promotion but have significant achievements during their employment. Being passed over is taken as a personal 'slight' against them. Also, the amount of time served as a Corrections Officer does not necessarily taken into consideration when filling field deputy positions. The primary reason for this is the amount of time it takes to certify a law enforcement officer makes it easier to hire an officer already certified. This comment comes from an officer that is currently seeking employment at other agencies and has not yet tendered his resignation.]

5) Environment. [With the change in Jail Administrators has come tentative uncertainty amongst the officers as to what is expected of them when they are on the job. One officer expressed concern that the only way to stay out of trouble is to accomplish the bare minimum and fly under the radar.]

6) Emotional Unpreparedness. [This was offered by an officer that served for only 2 days. In a small community such as ours, an officer must be mentally and emotionally prepared to work with and around inmates which they have personally met or known in the outside world. Treating them with the same cold by-the-book mentality is not for everybody. Not everyone has what it takes to be a Corrections Officer. I've seen field deputies that didn't have what it takes so....]

7) Inmate Empowerment. [This, as usual, is a byproduct of uncertainty. When there are frequent changes at all levels, some that have left feel that inmates are permitted to increasingly disregard minor policies until major events occur. This is the old "inmate's run the facility" adage. One of the biggest causes of this is merely a lack of training. As turnorver rises, people are being incompletely trained by people who were incompletely trained by someone who is no longer with the facility. I'll admit we are struggling to get back to "square one" with such a low staffing. If you only have the minimum amount of officers to cover all of your shifts, it's difficult to set aside training sessions.]

I hope you find this helpful. We have been through this before and we've come out on top. Correctional problems is like a bike race: just because you solved all your problems, doesn't mean you've won. You've got to maintain constant vigilance to stay in the lead. There is no finish line.

 Shane

Shane,

Thank you for your reply! I believe also that wages play a part in the staff turnover. But as you have mentioned training, plays into it also. Some find out once that they get involved in corrections it is not for them. There is some difference between working in a prison than in a jail! What do you think of how upper management treats it's staff? I am strongly persauded that those from Sgt. up should have semi-annual training in people skills and communications skills. Some of the things I hear that come over a radio to new officer's is very demeaning! That is a different subject in and of itself completely.

Concerning training how serious is it taken at your facility...again....another subject for another day....

I will get off my soapbox for now. I just believe that the biggest room in Corrections is Improvement! Have a great day and thanks for your reply....I will be glad to hear from all on this matter.

Thank you for your reply. I realize that pay is a big factor in employee turnover and with older employees retiring. However; what are you feelings on how officers are treated by those in supervisory positions? I know too that some are just not cut out to work in Corrections.

Staff mentoring is very important. Senior officers as well as supervisors have a responsibility in this regard. And, of course, some are just not cut out for this line of work and they should be gently shown this in probationary evaluations. I am also a firm believer in training, both probationary and annual refresher. However, I believe the primary reason for officer longevity in my facility is because of the much higher payscale and benefits when compared with other similar public service jobs locally.

You're very welcome!

I know I put probably the most important point very shortly with regards to insufficient training, but the situation regarding training at our facility is increasingly laughable. One year we were so understaffed that we couldn't send anyone to training. Since we didn't spend the "Continued Education" line item funds the county commissioners slashed it from $2000 to $500. That next year we had the staff--but not the funds to get people off to training.

Training gives people the confidence in themselves to effectively do their jobs. It significantly cuts down on second-guessing and shows them how to be professionals in our line of work. Over the last couple of years I have been hit with many questions, repeatedly the same ones, often on a weekly basis, and usually from seasoned officers. This will then lead to a lack of confidence in my own team, though I try not to show it. I do object for someone asking a question and then arguing over my answer. I am a boss for good reasons. One is: I almost always have the answer. And when I don't--I'll find it. Some ranking officers feel they deserve the respect due their rank. I try to earn respect despite my rank. But at the end of the day, I'm still the boss.

There are members of my administration that have no experience in corrections. Of those that do, such experience is dated from ca. 1980. They all come from the Sheriff's Office side of the facility where it is a common perception that the jail is the "red-headed step-child" (quoted from actual Field Deputy). Since the new jail administration took over, conflicting personalities, perceptions, interpretations, and misunderstandings stemming from either a lack of or poor communication, our system began to break down. Because their background is in the field (working cases, the public) they have trouble relating to our officers and likewise. Again, a course in basic corrections training would have proven valuable.

Here, if you treat a corrections officer strictly like an employee, you're going to lose them one way or another. Treat them like a brother, and you may never get rid of them. :)

I don't mean my comments to be interpreted as a slight against other members of my administration. Each of them have honorably served in active Law Enforcement for decades during critical times and situations. The only problem they have is conforming their collective experience to work for them in a correctional environment--to see things from a correctional perspective (a world where spiral notebooks will be turned into a weapon and tattoo guns are made from tape players).

On a related note...we had another officer give his two weeks notice last night. I have not had the opportunity to exit interview him yet, but the current talk is that he's leaving for better pay in a manufacturing plant. They start at 150% our top wage. There's no way we could compete.

Shane

We have about a 70% turn over rate I am told by the admin. that exit interview's indicate that money does not play that big of a role in the turn over rate but i am betting that if our pay rates were competitive with corporate America that we would see a drastic reduction in the turnover rate. I do agree that simply throwing money at the situation will not make it go away i think that alot of people take this job with alot of preconceived notion about prison that they have gotten from TV and we all know how accurately TV and the movies portray prison. I also think alot of it has to do with the simple fact that you are meant to do this job or you are not meant to do this job. I have been in corrections for 15 years and have come to the conclusion this career picks you not the other way around and this career is picky when it comes to whom it chooses to except as being worthy to be called a correctional professional. So i expect that as long as there are prisons there will be a (hopefully) small shortage of men and women to staff our facilities.

It would seem the way you mentioned, about the right person for the right job, etc.  I have worked in corrections for eleven years at both the state prison and local level and just recently retired.  I also am prior military as well.  The thing I see in people is that (1) they found out this was NOT the job they thought it was.  That's ok in my book because at least they tried.  (2) There are a lot of agencies and prisons out there that treat new people so badly it is a wonder they stay as long as they do.  Bad supervisors, those who bring in contraband to the inmates, and not responding when there is a disburbance because someone is "thought less of" someone else go a long way toward running good people off.  (3) Some agencies restrict promotions, laterals, and "attaboy" letters because of thier own biased good ol' boy system.  I recently retired from a small sheriff's office due to these things after trying for years to overcome that.  In some places the rumor mill is so vicious toward officers even though policy states to the contrary it makes it a very difficult place to work.  The inmates are sometimes the least of an officer's worry.

L. Hacker;

M.S. Criminal Justice